The late night killing of a local CPI(M) leader on the eve of Independence Day saw a dramatic turn of events on Monday, with an eyewitness initially claiming that the perpetrators were party members and soon alleging that they were RSS workers. While the BJP argued that the Left was trying to hide its alleged involvement in the murder.
Eyewitnesses accompanying the victim at the time of Sunday’s attack told a TV channel in the morning that an eight-member group was waiting for them on Marutha Road near here and after some heated exchange of words, two of the attackers met. Shajahan, a resident of Kunnangadu, was murdered.
Eyewitnesses initially alleged that both the hackers of Shajahan were CPI(M) members and one of the attackers was the son of an eyewitness and that is why he was not killed. Subsequently, barely two hours later, eyewitnesses told another TV channel that all the attackers were allegedly RSS workers.
He claimed that the perpetrators of the murder were earlier members of the CPI(M) but are now in the RSS. CPI(M) district secretary EN Suresh Babu also said that the attackers were former party members but were in the RSS for more than a year.
Talking to a CPI(M)-run TV channel, he said that Shah Jahan was murdered with the full knowledge of the RSS. He alleged that some RSS workers got into an argument with CPI(M) members to replace a DYFI flex board with one in connection with Shri Krishna Jayanti and the victim tried to resolve the issue.
Amidst the argument, the four men left on two bikes and soon returned with weapons and targeted Shah Jahan, Babu said. Opposing the allegations of the CPI(M) district secretary, BJP state president K Surendran termed Babu’s claims as an attempt to accuse the Sangh Parivar of murder to hide the alleged involvement of the ruling party in the murder.
Surendran said in a Facebook post that he was grateful to the eyewitnesses and the media for bringing out the truth. Meanwhile, an officer of Malampuzha police station, under whose jurisdiction the crime was committed, said they were trying to verify which party the attackers belonged to.
According to the FIR, it is alleged that the attackers were BJP-RSS workers, the official said. He said the attackers were members of the CPI(M) in the past, but whether they were still part of the Left party or not is yet to be confirmed.
The official also said that the attackers have been identified, no one is in custody, no arrests have been made so far and investigations are on. Police said Shah Jahan was a member of the local committee of the CPI(M) and the incident took place near the leader’s house around 9.30 pm on Sunday night.
Local Left leaders said the victim was arranging decorations for the Independence Day celebrations when the incident took place. After the incident, local CPI(M) leaders alleged that “BJP and RSS were behind the murder”. However, the BJP district leadership had denied the allegations in a statement.
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